HIGH-FLYING SKILLS — Martin County Area gymnast Lillie Schultz goes airborne during a tumbling sequence while competing in the floor exercise at Saturday’s MCA Invitational at Live Fit Sport & Wellness Center in Fairmont. Schultz went on to top the host Magic’s runner-up team finish. (Photo by Greg Abel)

FAIRMONT — If the idiom “practice makes perfect” is true, the Martin County Area Magic gymnasts should have received 10s on the judges’ scorecards during the MCA Wild Wild Invitational on Saturday.

In spite of having three of its first four dual meets of the season postponed due to inclement weather, host Martin County Area captured second-place honors to the Jackson County Central Huskies in the Martin County Area Wild, Wild gymnastics quadrangular at Live Fit Sport & Wellness Center in Fairmont.

Payten Benda, Bailey Finck and Romi Rosenbrook placed first, third and sixth, respectively, in the all-around competition to power the Huskies to a winning team total of 132.45.

Lillie Schultz and Abi Chavez, however, captured fifth and seventh, respectively, during the overall individual competition, while teammate Mollie Leiding contributed a bronze balance beam medal to engineer the host Magic’s runner-up team showing of 127.55.

Addison Armstrong struck gold on the floor to pace her third-place performance in the all-around, while teammates Adrianna Reddick and Tailor Douglas combined for three top-six individual showings to guide the Blue Earth Area Bucs to third place at 125.825.

Layla Keith, who netted first-place accolades on both the vault and uneven parallel bars en route to second place in the all-around, topped the Waseca Bluejays’ fourth-place mark of 119.95.

“It’s been four long weeks of practice, practice and more practice,” said MCA head coach Annie Post. “Competing in an actual meet is a lot different than piecing together your routines in practice.

“For being away from meet competition for a whole month, our girls exceeded my expectations today. I was proud of their efforts.”

Schultz, a seventh-grade phenom, generated 32.9 points to claim fifth place in the all-around for MCA. Schultz twisted a full to cap her third tumbling sequence to earn an 8.9 to pocket third place in the floor exercise to highlight her overall total.

Schultz also merited fourth place on the balance beam with a score of 8.25 by executing a back walk-over and two back handsprings. The Magic’s leading scorer also tallied an 8.3 on vault and a 7.45 on the unevens to round out her effort.

Chavez produced a seventh-place all-around score of 31.7 for the Magic, highlighted by a fourth-place tally of 8.825 on the floor exercise. The MCA junior combined solid directional tumbling to garner the mark.

Chavez also scored 8.3 off the vault table, a 7.325 on the unevens and a 7.25 on the beam to create solid point production for the Magic.

Mollie Leiding, an eighth-grade standout, displayed her specialist skills by claiming third place on the beam with an 8.35. Leiding delivered back-to-back back handsprings, planted a standing back tuck and converted her round-off side dismount.

Mollie Leiding also contributed an 8.25 score on the floor to MCA’s effort, seventh-grade phenom Nora Fitzgerald delivered an 8.0 on the floor exercise, eighth-grade standout Jadyn Montgomery netted an 8.325 on the vault, while Ava Thate also cleared the 8-point plateau by generating an 8.275 off the vault table.

Armstrong, who netted the bronze medal in the all-around with a 33.7, proved the only gymnast of the four-team invitational to reach the 9-point mark to strike gold on the floor for BEA.

Armstrong proved her athleticism by placing second on the vault (8.75) and beam (8.45), while earning third on the unevens with a 7.9-scored routine.

Reddick and Douglas proved high-scoring specialists for BEA, with Reddick finishing fifth on the vault with an 8.675, in addition to claiming sixth on the unevens at 7.6 Douglas captured one spot behind Armstrong on the unevens by placing fourth with a score of 7.75.

Benda outdueled Keith to garner the gold medal in the all-around, 34.15-33.85, respectively. Benda won the balance beam crown with an 8.825 performance, netted second behind Keith on the unevens — 8.125-8.075, and placed third off the vault table (8.7).

Keith vaulted to a gold-medal mark of 8.825 and added first place on the unevens with an 8.125.

Martin County Area (1-0) plays host to Pipestone Area on Tuesday at Live Fit Sport & Wellness Center in Fairmont. Blue Earth Area travels to St. Peter on Friday.

MCA Wild Wild Quad

Team Results: 1. Jackson County Central 132.45; 2. Martin County Area 127.55; 3. Blue Earth Area 125.825; 4. Waseca 119.95.

Individual Results

All-Around: 1. Payten Benda (JCC) 34.15; 2. Layla Keith (WAS) 33.85; 3. Addison Armstrong (BEA) 33.7; 4. Bailey Finck (JCC) 33.125; 5. Lillie Schultz (MCA) 32.9; 6. Romi Rosenbrook (JCC) 32.3; 7. Abi Chavez (MCA) 31.7.

Vault: 1. Layla Keith (WAS) 8.825; 2. Addison Armstrong (BEA) 8.75; 3. (by criteria) Payten Benda (JCC) 8.7; 4. Payton Hanson (JCC) 8.7; 5. Adrianna Reddick (BEA) 8.675; 6. Katelyn Weber (WAS) 8.65.

Beam: 1. Payten Benda (JCC) 8.825; 2. Addison Armstrong (BEA) 8.45; 3. Mollie Leiding (MCA) 8.35; 4. Lillie Schultz (MCA) 8.25; 5. Bailey Finck (JCC) 8.225; 6. Romi Rosenbrook (JCC) 8.2.

Uneven Parallel Bars: 1. Layla Keith (WAS) 8.125; 2. Payten Benda (JCC) 8.075; 3. Addison Armstrong (BEA) 7.9; 4. Tailor Douglas (BEA) 7.75; 5. (by criteria) Bailey Finck (JCC) 7.6; 6. Adrianna Reddick (BEA) 7.6.

Floor Exercise: 1. Addison Armstrong (BEA) 9.0; 2. Bailey Finck (JCC) 8.95; 3. Lillie Schultz (MCA) 8.9; 4. Abi Chavez (MCA) 8.825; 5. Layla Keith (WAS) 8.7; 6. Hannan Carson (JCC) 8.65.